Increasing association members’ participation is one of the most difficult challenges for every HOA. They should be aware of what is happening in their community and have the right to vote when important decisions are made. However, it can be tough to convince your homeowners to engage.
HOAs are based on the idea that homeowners can control their neighborhoods by working together to control the space between them. Everyone pays their dues every year, and over time, you can improve the property. But, besides a few people who care a lot about their community, most homeowners don’t want to worry about it. Most people would rather know that their pool and sidewalk repairs are in good hands as they go about their daily lives. But they also want to vote on that one-of-a-kind initiative or assessment that is important to them, and they should be able to.
Communication is a key part of running any kind of business or organization. The best way for a board to get members involved is to make more efforts to communicate with them. You can keep your members informed and increase the number of members who want to help lead the community in which they have a stake by staying in touch and being visible.
Here are the different ways to increase communication within your HOA.
Bulletin board/display screen
You can let members know about upcoming events by putting up a traditional bulletin board or a digital display screen in the lobby. But this should never be the only way to let residents know about events and news.
There’s a risk of information loss even if the display is in a highly visible location because few members will not read it.
Send text messages with updates and reminders
Sending a text message is the best way to keep people up to date and remind them of things. By using a modern association management system with texting built right into an online portal, you can keep all of your residents up-to-date at all times with just a few taps.
Homeowners and board members today want immediate, easy accessibility to all association-related information. Whether it’s a notice regarding their association’s dues or an update on the status of the pool renovation, residents would prefer not to have to make a special trip to the office to get the information they need.
Web communication
If you really want to get your members more involved and give them better access, you should go digital. First, add ways for people to contact you, like an email form or live chat, to your websites. A live chatbot can be used as a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and can take questions from chat. At the moment, you can add these functions as simple modules to any website builder, like WordPress or Wix. Then, put important information and news about the community on the first page.
Homeowners today expect a website with ways to talk to the company. Also, they know how to use it, which makes them more likely to ask questions and get involved.
Email update and newsletter
Sending out electronic newsletters and updates via email is a great way to ensure that everyone in the association is up to speed.
Your emails should have clear and direct subject lines. The message should be short and get the point across.
Post Updates on Social Media
Set up an account on social media for the HOA. Use this to let people in the PR community know about things like holiday events. But keep an eye on your social media accounts as “networks for customer service.” Today, many homeowners find it easier to talk to each other on social media, and they can even build a strong online community for their neighborhood.
If you decide to make a social media account for your group (like on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter), everyone who has access to the account must agree on a set of rules.
Policies for social media should include rules about how often to post, how to choose photos to post, and how to respond to negative comments and spam in a good way.
Community app
Board members who want to get people involved can also tell members to use a community app. These apps might be good for member who don’t use social media but want to talk to their neighbors about association events and problems.
Most of these apps have different features, such as access control (i.e. only association residents). Still, a Board member or members should be put in charge of:
- administer posting information
- approve/deny posts
- manage comments
- respond to messages
- remove prohibited content
Answer emails and questions immediately
Respond quickly to emails, phone calls, and social media messages. Queries and requests are excellent because they show that your community members care enough to comment and get involved. Regretfully, many HOAs lose members because they have to wait too long to hear back from the office. If busy members of a HOA can’t get information about it, they might stop asking or trying to get involved.
Set up a regular process for approving requests
Make it fun and easy for HOA members to send in requests and get them approved. Home repairs, car parks, clubhouse reservations, and other requests should all follow the same rules and be easy to get approved. Make sure that approvals can be given quickly and that each rejection comes with helpful feedback.
Conduct regular open meetings
Make it easy for member to find your meetings and come to them. Set up a regular plan and routine. Put the location and time of the meeting on your HOA’s website, newsletter, clubhouse bulletin board, and even the back of other fliers. Each of your members should feel comfortable and confident enough to show up and vote on HOA issues that are important to them.
Hire a company that manages communities or HOA
And you can use other methods besides the steam from the board. Teaming up with a company that manages communities is one of the best ways to get members more involved on many platforms. Homeowner community management is the business method used to run the Association operating model. The board tells Association management how to reach the board’s goals by using a business and logistics approach.And you can use other methods besides the steam from the board. Teaming up with a company that manages communities is one of the best ways to get members more involved on many platforms. Homeowner community management is the business method used to run the Association operating model. The board tells Association management how to reach the board’s goals by using a business and logistics approach.
